The Jewish Christmas
The true meaning of the holidays, historically speaking

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by Stewart Sallo (letters@boulderweekly.com)

One holiday commemorates the first recorded fight for religious freedom; the other is a celebration of the birth of the messiah. One holiday lasts eight days; the other falls on just one day, but is the culmination of an ever-expanding seasonal observance. While one holiday is, at its roots, one of its faithıs least significant ceremonies, the other is the memorialization of its faithıs most momentous occasion. The meaning of one holidayıs name is "dedication." The name of the other holiday means communion with Christ.

And they both happen to take place around the same time of year.

Despite the interminable list of differences, in the worldıs wealthiest, most materialistic society, the fact that Hanukkah and Christmas coincidentally occur during the same season has led to a virtual merger of two absolutely unrelated holidays. Instead of Christmas and Hanukkah, we now have the "Holiday Season." Salutations such as "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Hanukkah" have been replaced by "Happy Holidays" and "Seasonıs Greetings." Most noteworthy is the notion that the truest meanings of these two celebrations have been obfuscated by a secular consumerism that is spinning more rapidly out of control with each passing year. In our culture, both Hanukkah and Christmas have become more about fulfilling shopping lists and winning the approval of the recipients of our gifts than about championing individuality or studying the teachings of Jesus.

Hanukkah is not the "Jewish Christmas," nor does the holiday have anything to do with giving gifts. Rather, Hanukkah is about the struggle for religious freedom, the victory of the righteous few against the corrupt majority, and the hope that the miracles of the past portend well for the miracles we wish for in modern times. But even with these worthy themes, Hanukkah is historically one of the most minor holidays in the Jewish calendar. It is only by virtue of its proximity to Christmas and the fact that almost one-half of the worldıs Jewish population lives in the United States that Hanukkah has achieved such a high profile.

"Hanukkah isnıt a major holiday, but in order for Jews to survive in this Christian culture they had to sort of beef it up, and so it has become bigger than life," says Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, the founding Rabbi of the Jewish Renewal Community of Boulder. "Itıs really about political triumph and themes like faith over material wealth and faith in miracles‹very beautiful themes."

Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem after the Jewsı victory over the Hellenist Syrians in the year 165 B.C.E. (before common era, the Jewish equivalent of B.C.‹"Before Christ"). In 168 B.C.E., Antiochus, the Greek King of Syria, seized the Jewsı holy Temple, outlawed the practice of Judaism and ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods. An organized Jewish revolt broke out when a group of Greek soldiers were killed by a Jewish High Priest named Mattathias and his five sons, known as the Macabees, after the soldiers attempted to force Mattathias and other Jews to bow to an idol and eat the flesh of a pig. After his death about one year later, Mattathiası son, Judah Macabee, led a growing army which ultimately defeated the Greeks after a three-year battle, despite being seriously outmanned.

After the war, Judah Macabee and his soldiers set about the task of cleaning and restoring the holy Temple to its previous condition. When they were finished, they decided to have a big dedication ceremony and rekindle the golden Temple candelabra, or menorah. They looked everywhere for oil but found only a small flask that contained enough oil to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days, which gave them enough time to obtain new oil to keep the menorah lit. Today, Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by lighting candles in a special menorah, known as a Hanukkiah, every night, thus commemorating the eight-day miracle.

Given the theme of the Hanukkah story, it becomes especially ironic that in modern American culture the holidayıs deeper significance has been subordinated to the current dominant cultureıs seductive commercialism. In other words, a holiday born of the commitment to religious independence has become the victim of yet another dominant culture.

"(Hanukkah) was the first recorded fight for religious freedom, the right to observe and maintain oneıs own religious beliefs and practices against a stronger authority," explains Rabbi Victor Gross of the Boulder Jewish Renewal Community. "Having won that battle, the current situation (where Hanukkah has been merged with Christmas), is the opposite of the original intention of the celebration of Hanukkah."

In this irony is a powerful message, one that is relevant to Christians and Jews alike. Each December we are swept up in a tidal wave of commercialism that clouds our focus on our deepest beliefs. We become robotic consumers, credit cards in hand, determined to finish our shopping by the approaching deadline. What may be eluding us is that, metaphorically speaking, we are the Macabees, and the rich and powerful corporate retailers‹the Wal-Marts and Targets‹are the Greeks. The Macabees were stripped of their individuality and made to conform to the wishes of the more powerful Greeks.

Similarly, Americans are manipulated and coerced, through the power of multi-million dollar advertising and public relations campaigns, into jumping on the holiday season bandwagon by purchasing gifts we donıt need with money we donıt have.

The result is more than an increase in credit card debt. By allowing ourselves to be controlled in this way, we lose our sense of uniqueness as we become soulless, consuming shells of humanity who have been deprived of the true meaning of our winter holidays.

The Macabees recognized their God-given right to their unique beliefs and customs, and they were willing to fight for them. Ultimately they prevailed against the odds because they refused to give in to the more powerful entities of their time. This is the message of the Hanukkah story, as relevant today as it was in ancient times, and as relevant to Christians as it is to Jews.

"There is always that energy of reclaiming original messages, and sometimes you have to go to one end of the extreme in order to bring it back into balance," observes Rabbi Gross. "Maybe thatıs what weıre going through right now."

Hanukkah means "dedication." May the message of Hanukkah inspire and empower all of us who are struggling to be free individuals in a culture that is constantly manipulating us to rededicate ourselves to our own uniqueness.

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